Gillespie names his first Yorkshire squad for Kent season opener

The White Rose county start their assault on promotion from Division Two against Kent at Headingley Carnegie and Gillespie has stuck with the same 12 men that faced Durham in the final pre-season friendly match of the close season. Adam Lyth has also been added.

Only Townville all-rounder Tim Bresnan, who’s on England duty, and Phil Jaques, who doesn’t arrive in Yorkshire until mid-April, are absent as Gillespie picked from a fully-fit squad.

Ossett’s Rich Pyrah got the nod to feature despite missing the pre-season tour to Barbados due to the birth of his twin daughters.

Yorkshire: Andrew Gale, Joe Sayers, Joe Root, Anthony McGrath, Jonny Bairstow, Gary Ballance, Adil Rashid, Ajmal Shahzad, Richard Pyrah, Ryan Sidebottom, Iain Wardlaw, Steve Patterson, Adam Lyth.

Kent: Rob Key, Scott Newman, Ben Harmison, Brendan Nash, Mike Powell, Darren Stevens, Geraint Jones, Matt Coles, Mark Davies, Charlie Shreck, Adam Riley, Ivan Thomas.

See this week’s Wakefield Express for more cricket news ahead of the new season.